Hearts

There was a tall and dark-faced man. He always wore his hood so no one could make out his facial features. Every morning till the train station gates closed, he sits by the stairs fiddling with a scruffy dolphin doll. People who walked past him either laughed or threw pennies at him. He slowly picks up the coins once there was no sight of anyone. He goes back to his shelter bruised, carrying change in one hand while the dolphin doll hanged from his other stale hand. He dropped heavily on the broken mattress and laid on his back. He started to munch on a fairly sized biscuit, leaving no crumbs behind. As he licked clean the wrapper, he felt something trickling down his face. His tongue reached for it. Salty Then, like a balloon full of water pricked, tears streamed down his face and wet the back of his hood. Cluelessly, he smiled.

She was dressed in a fairy costume for the party she had to go to. ‘Mother!’ She paused brushing her shiny, tawny hair. ‘Mother! Will you come here for goodness sake!?’ Loud stomps echoed in the hallway.

‘Freya!’ A woman with a slender body appeared wearing a yellow polka dot apron. Her hair looks as if she just woke up as it was begging to be brushed. She was a blue-eyed, short lady with an attitude of a 5-year-old. ‘Freya! How many times do I have to remind you that your mother is out for work!’ Freya looked down at her hands gloomily. ‘And where did you get that lip gloss from!’ She said snatching off the lip gloss off from Freya’s thin hands.

‘But she promised to give me a ride to the party!’ Freya shot up from a rose stool.

‘You’re not 7 anymore to have to make your mother give you a drop-off. You’re a big girl!’ Saying that, she stormed off muttering under her breathe. Freya, feeling neglected, raised her voice as loud as she could so the housemaid can hear.

‘There once was a short lady, who never grew an inch from the age of 9, named Sasha! If anyone could get money without working, that would be her! The overpaid housemaid!’ Like a nuclear bomb had dropped in the mansion, she heard Sasha dashing away what she was doing and running up the staircase. Freya knew that she was carrying a belt with her because she could recognise the clicks and clacks. Freya, afraid that her dress will be ruined, dashed to her door and locked it.

‘You think I’m stupid!?’ She heard her voice coming closer and closer. Clink Clink. The door unlocked revealing Sasha’s grinning face. ‘I have the spare keys.’ She said, waving the key. She held the brown belt high up in the air positioning it to land it on her. Freya tried to gulp, however, the dryness of her throat hurt her.

‘Stop!’ She cried out. ‘I’ll tell my parents about this! Let it touch my skin and I will shriek my head off till the neighbours come!’ Sasha dropped the belt on the floor and dragged Freya down the stairs to the exit of the grand house.

‘Out. Out. OUT!’ She shut the door on her face, leaving her to collapse on the floor.

Next Chapter

A figure delicately picked her up and carried her away from the marble floor entrance. She lay on its hands with her arms bent, facing the figure's chest.